


Lights in the Sky

by Straccia_Tella



Category: No. 6 (Anime & Manga), No. 6 - All Media Types, No. 6 - Asano Atsuko
Genre: Beta'd, Fluff, Gen, floating lanterns, i really like lantern stories, zine story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 04:26:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15598263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Straccia_Tella/pseuds/Straccia_Tella
Summary: Shion is lost in thoughts whilst working, and gets a little helping hand when they talk about a lantern festival where you can supposedly send a message to a loved one.





	Lights in the Sky

Shion sat at his desk, sifting through the mountain of papers in front of him. Idly twirling a pen between his fingers, he let his eyes just skim across his computer screen without really processing anything. He was extremely bored with work today, but didn’t know how to alleviate it. Shion exhaled through his nose, wondering if he should just take a nap at his desk, when suddenly he noticed his papers were moving. He stood up and peered around the pile to find a small girl staring up at him with wide eyes. 

“What’s wrong, miss, are you lost?” Shion asked. 

She continued to stare at him for a few more seconds before answering, “Why do you have a mark on your cheek? Is that a tattoo?”

Shion was about to respond, but just then, one of his coworkers came running into his office. 

“Helen, you can’t just run off without telling me!” He stopped in the doorway, bending over with his hands on his knees, trying to take in some air. “Director, I’m so sorry about my daughter; I brought her to work today because my wife is travelling.”

Shion vaguely recognized this man- his name was Sam, and he was one of the clerks for the Restructural Committee. He watched as Sam bowed and then attempted to grab the straps of his daughter’s overalls, his face red from either exertion or frustration. 

“Are you a grandpa? Is that why your hair is so white?” Helen asked innocently. 

“Helen!” 

Shion merely laughed, getting up from his desk and walking over to Helen, kneeling down so he could speak to her eye-to-eye. 

“Actually, I’m quite young. There was an accident that made my hair turn white.”

Before Helen had a chance to get out another question, Sam managed to finally catch her. 

“We’ve bothered the director enough, Helen, let’s go.”

“No!” Helen whined. “You promised we’d make a floating star for Mommy today!”

“She isn’t bothering me,” Shion said, trying to diffuse the situation by regaining Helen’s attention. “What’s this floating star you’re talking about?”

“Daddy and I get some paper, turn it into a star, and then at night we let it float in the air to send a message to Mommy! He didn’t have any papers in his office, so I went off to find some.”

“Sweetheart, they’re called floating lanterns, and I promised we’d make some when we got home.” Sam was looking incredibly frazzled, holding his hands up in a placating gesture to try and calm his daughter down.

“I want to make one  _ now _ ! The festival is tonight!” Helen cried, stomping her foot on the ground. 

“I could help her,” Shion said, sensing an opportunity to get away from his work. “I’m curious about these lanterns, and I want to ask Helen more about this festival. It sounds intriguing.”

“But your work-” Sam began to object. 

“I could use a break. I’ll watch over Helen for a bit, it’s okay.” He smiled down at Helen, whose sparkling eyes warmed his heart. This was one of the reasons he liked children - they were always enthusiastic and eager to try new things. 

It took a few more minutes of convincing from Shion before Sam left his office in a hurry, while Helen wandered around the room curiously. Shion grabbed a stack of blank papers as Helen rummaged through his desk drawers. 

“Do you have any markers?”

“No, but I do have some pens and highlighters in there that you can use.”

Shion spread some blank papers on the floor, watching Helen attempt to show him how her father would help her fold the lanterns. However, they soon switched to conical paper hats that Helen began to draw flowers on with the highlighters. Even when he offered to look for instructions online, Helen replied that this way was more fun, and her dad could help choose which design to use for their lantern. They spent the next few hours cutting up masks, drawing colorful birds out of the outlines of their hands, and even folding some simple origami that Shion remembered reading about in Nezumi’s library. 

“What are you writing? Is it normal for people to write messages on their lanterns?” Shion asked, looking at the scribbles Helen was making on her paper. If he stared hard enough he could make out some of the words she was trying to write, like “love” and “home”. 

“I think so, but Daddy also said some people draw on theirs for their special someone. Is there something you want to write on yours?” 

_ Special someone _ ?  _ Would  _ he  _ really count as a special someone? _ Shion thought as he sat back quietly on his heels, watching Helen try to stick one of her flower origamis onto her crumpled lantern by using a glue stick Shion had found in his drawer. He tried not to laugh when the flower got stuck on her finger instead, and she attempted to vigorously shake it off.

“So these lanterns can be made for anyone you think is special?” Shion asked. 

“Yup, that’s what Daddy told me,” Helen replied, finally getting the flower to stick onto her lantern.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what I could say to them…” he admitted. 

_ Or if those words would ever reach him _ .

“Maybe you can write down a poem?” Helen suggested.

Shion nearly laughed at the thought. “I don’t know about that, but it’s a nice idea. Helen, what do  _ you _ think I should write?. 

“Write how you feel about them. Find the things you love about them in your heart, and let the words fly out! That’s how I write everything for Mommy!”

He admired how easily this kind of answer came to her, and he gently ruffled her hair.

“Hm, I’ll consider that. Thank you.”

Just as their conversation ended, Sam returned. As thanks for looking after Helen, he wrote down a list of instructions, including how to make the lantern, where the festival would be held and at what time. After gathering all of her drawings and crafts, Helen waved goodbye and disappeared out the door with her father. Shion watched the two leave before returning to his desk, staring at the list Sam had given to him and mulling over Helen’s advice. 

_ Write how I feel about him? _ he thought absently, while attempting to look like he was working. Unfortunately, he spent the rest of the afternoon ruminating over this problem. 

Shion stood in the open field of the city’s park gingerly holding his lantern, surrounded by what seemed like a little over three hundred people. He had underestimated how popular this kind of “festival” was. Volunteers stood at tables with warm drinks or walked around to speak to the festival-goers, who talked noisily between each other, huddled up in groups. Despite the coolness of the night air, there was an atmosphere of excitement. Shion spotted Helen in the crowd, sitting on her dad’s shoulders and waving her unlit lantern at Shion enthusiastically. Shion waved back, before turning to contemplate his finished lantern. It was nothing too lavish like some of the others he had seen. It was plain white, with a few words written across one side. 

At the edge of the crowd stood a man on a small platform, wearing a bright yellow vest. He lifted a megaphone up to his lips, allowing his voice to ring across the night air.

“Alright everyone, we’re about to begin the floating lantern festival! Please prepare to light your lanterns. For those of you who need assistance, volunteers will come around to help you.”

Shion watched as one by one, people began to light the fuses in their lanterns. He got help from a volunteer who held the lantern for him, careful to not let the flames touch the sides of the paper. After they handed it back, Shion stared at his handiwork, musing over how the light coming from the small flame looked like the glow of the afternoon sun. After making their way through the crowd, the volunteers all lined up near the platform where the man with the megaphone stood.

“Is everyone ready?” the man asked. The crowd gave a resounding “yes”. “On the count of three, you will all release your  lanterns. Ready?”

“One! Two! Three!” 

On three, Shion let go of his lantern as instructed, watching as it soared up into the sky, following the hundreds of others that were simultaneously released. Soon the night sky contained a small trail of light like the aurora borealis, or the Milky Way. It was beautiful. 

Shion grinned as he watched, wondering if the words he had written would ever reach him.

The words “I love you.”

* * *

 

Nezumi brushed aside the bits of his hair that were stuck to his neck, breathing in the cool night air and adjusting the shawl around his shoulders. He urged his legs to keep walking despite the tiredness from his long day trek. The mountains weren’t much like the cities he had travelled through, but he had adapted. When he found a clearing, he stopped to take a break. Turning to look up at the sky, he was surprised to see lanterns floating across it like boats on a lazy river. 

He admired the lights, feeling slightly tempted to follow the trail to see where it lead. Vaguely, he wondered where he had read the story about two lovers who found their way back to each other through the floating lights that guided them together. 

_ I wonder if  _ he  _ participated in this. Seems like the kind of corny thing he’d be into, _ Nezumi thought, remembering an image of a young boy with white hair and a red snake mark curving across his cheek.

As much as he would have liked to go back and see Shion again, he still had some work to do. But one day, maybe he’d follow those lights and return to the boy who had opened his doors to scream in a storm. The boy who had he saved,  the boy he had fallen in love with.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out the No.6 Zine "Reunion Will Come" on Tumblr


End file.
